1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to medical system for sampling and analyzing blood or any components of the blood for specific readings as to qualities of the blood. One specific use of the present invention is for sensing the accumulation of blood glucose for diabetics. The system is a portable, pocket-size, battery operated, diagnostic system for detection and measurement of blood qualities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art blood glucose devices have operated on the principle of taking blood from an individual by a variety of methods, such as by needle or lance. An individual then had to coat a paper strip carrying chemistry with the blood, and insert the blood-coated strip into a blood glucose meter or visual comparison against a color standard. There are numerous blood glucose meters on the market, but are instruments which consume space and are not pocketable. The instruments usually have to be carried in a large handbag, or an individual's briefcase, or left at home such as in the bathroom or the bedroom.
Further, the prior art medical apparatus for sensing blood glucose required that an individual have separately available a needle or lance for extracting blood from the individual, strips carrying blood chemistry for creating a chemical reaction with respect to the blood glucose and changing color, and a blood glucose meter for reading the change in color indicating the blood glucose level. The level of blood glucose, when measured by glucometer, is read from a strip carrying the blood chemistry through the well-known process of reflectometers for glucose oxidation.
Monitor/reagent strip systems that are now available on the market have multiple sequential steps that the patient must follow at exact time intervals. Each step is subject to error by the patient. As in most monitors, it is the patient's responsibility to periodically calibrate the monitor against known color standards; validate the efficacy of their reagent strips and technique by immersing the strips in a control solution of known glucose content; and, then comparing the color change visually against the color standard or by using a calibrated monitor.
In the prior art, the procedure for obtaining accurate results from the time a drop of blood is placed on a reagent strip pad to the time the pad color change is read in the monitor is as follows. The patient must stick himself/herself with a lancet. A drop of blood must be squeezed to the surface of the skin. The drop of blood must then be carefully placed on the reagent pad, making sure to cover the pad completely and the pad must never be touched by the finger of the patient to prevent contamination. Once the sample has been applied to the surface of the reagent pad, the patient must press a timer on the monitor. At the end of the timing, the patient must wipe, blot or wash the strip off, using a careful technique. And for most strips, the patient must place the reacted reagent strip into the monitor, and press a test button or close a hatch to obtain results. Prior art commercially available comparable reagent strips or monitors require operator intervention in a prescribed sequence at exact time intervals. The prior art is subject to operator error, sequence, timing, and technique errors. The prior art reagent strips are also subject to contamination which will affect accuracy of measurement.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a hand-held pocketable medical system which includes an attachable disposable probe package carrying a chemical reagent chemistry for extracting blood from an individual, delivering the blood to the blood sensing reagent, or vice versa, in the disposable needle package, and resulting in a read-out of a level such as blood glucose. The system includes a microcomputer which is software controlled by an internal program and, of course, provisions can be provided for external programming of the microcomputer. The computer controls all timing functions thereby eliminating human error.